Pittsburgh Brewers

Every Brewery Ever in Pittsburgh

This page works in conjunction with the Straub page in the Comparative Notes section as Gangwisch and Straub partnered in brewing at several locations.

Gangwisch Timeline

The age of a person at the noted year is indicated as such: Name (25). This timeline reflects the connection between Gangwisch and Straub with respect to brewing.

1821John P. Gangwich was born in Baden, Germany

1848John P. Gangwisch arrived in Pittsburgh and found work as a foreman in the Beck Brewery on Liberty Street in the Strip District.

1848+With two partners, John P. Gangwisch established his own brewery at 16th & Penn (Strip District) until 1860 when the property was bought by the railroad. Moved to Lawrenceville where he took over the brewery from Wainwright.

1852Started a branch brewery in St. Louis. This was common for brewers to do in the late 1800’s. To date I can find no information that (the Pittsburgh) Gangwisch was in St. Louis and I suspect that the Gangwisch who was in St. Louis was not the Pittsburgh Gangwisch.

1852John P. Gangwisch married Theresa Hug.

1860The Pennsylvania Rail Road bought the Liberty Avenue property and the brewery moved to Lawrenceville at 46th Street. The sale was probably a factor in Hoeveler & Miller to buy the nearby Bennett Brewery

1875John Schneider worked for Gangwisch until Gangwisch went bankrupt. Schneider did not say where he worked.

1876John P. (55) retired from brewing.

1876Gangwisch & Straub were founding members of the Chamber of Commerce, charted on July 8, 1876. The Chamber in the book, Fifty Years in the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh, listed them as Gangwisch & Straub, giving the impression that they were partners. First names were not given.

1882The Chamber of Commerce publication, Annual Report for the Year 1882 listed the firm of Gangwisch, O’Reily & Company (brewers). The location of the company was not given.

1882St. Julien was at the 46th Street location

1883Straub of the North Side (South Canal Street) merged with Eberhardt & Ober.

1887Richard H. Gangwisch, John Gangwisch and J. S. Straub but property from John Dipple and start the Gangwisch & Company Brewery, also known as the Manchester Ale Brewery.

1889A boiler exploded at the Manchester Ale Brewery. The owners of the brewery were: R. H. Gangwisch, John Gangwisch and J. S. Straub.

1900Richard H. Gangwisch was granted a patent on March 14, 1900 for an Apparatus for Racking Beer.

1901Richard Gangwisch, son of John P., was working at the Phoenix Brewery of the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. This, no doubt was a result of the Manchester Brewery being closed after the boiler explosion.

1903 John P. Gangwisch died at his home Josephine Street in Crafton and is survived by Theresa and his children: John, Richard, Emma, Josephine and Magdalene. He was 82. Death notice for John Paul Gangwisch was noted in the Pittsburgh Press, February 17, 1903.

1918Joseph Gangwisch was known to be a brewery at the Winterton Brewery.See Wainwright in the Special Section.

Gangwisch Breweries in Allegheny County(These entries appear in the Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, North Side, and Strip District pages and may be modified therein)

The entries are listed by neighborhood location when Gangwisch began operations in that neighborhood. This gives a time-line effect to the below work.

Strip District

John Gangwisch ArrivalJohn Gangwisch is believed to have come to Pittsburgh in 1848 when he was 27 years old.

Gangwisch at the Beck BreweryGangwisch worked as a foreman at the John Beck Brewery on Liberty Street in he Strip District.

Gangwisch BreweryNear 16th Street and PennOn an unknown date he and two partners bought a planning mill on Liberty Street and opened it as a brewery. It existed until the 1860’s when the Pennsylvanian Railroad bought the property. According to Industries of Pittsburgh, he moved to Bloomfield but also opened the Allegheny Valley Brewery in Lawrenceville afterwards.

Bloomfield

Union BreweryLiberty and Main St (Gangwish St is parallel to Main)Followed by StraubAs shown on Historic Map Group 1, 1872, Plate 54Operated by John P. Gangwisch’s son, John.Gangwisch came to this location after the Pennsylvania Railroad bought his property in the Strip District in the 1860’s. He was known to be here by at least 1870 based on the survey (below), but I have no firm date.

According to John Schneider who worked for Gangwisch in 1875, Gangwisch went bankrupt. Schneider did not give the location of the brewery. Gangwisch had two investors at the Liberty Street brewery so it is reasonable that they were at Bloomfield as well. I don’t know who they were but Herman & Theodor Straub (from the North Side) bought the Bloomfield brewery. Gangwisch & Straub were founding members of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1876.

Industries of Pittsburgh says he opened the Union Brewery (in Bloomfield) before he opened the Allegheny Valley Brewery, which opened in 1876.

Gangwish & Klopper Survey The Gangwish & Klopper Survey was dated on February 2, 1870 and recorded on March 6, 1870 in Allegheny County. This survey showed the size and location of his land. It is the same representation as shown on Hopkins 1872 Atlas, Plate 54. The survey shows a brewery on the land with John N. Gangwish as property owner. The survey did not use the c in his name.

Gangwisch StreetGangwisch Street is at the rear of the property and runs parallel to Liberty. It was sometimes spelled without the c and that may have come from the survey.

Sale to Straub BothersThe Straub brothers, Herman & Theodor, from Allegheny City would take this brewery over probably before the Straub-Eberhardt & Ober merger in 1883. The 1872 map does not use the name Union Brewery, only Brewery but we know it belonged to Gangwisch at the time.

Union Brewery Straub & SonAs shown on Hopkins 1882 Atlas, Plate 10. The date suggests that some Straub family members left John Straub in Allegheny City and came here before the 1883 merger with Eberhardt & Ober. Former owner Gangwisch went bankrupt in 1875 and the brewery remained the Union but under the Srraubs. Gangwisch opened a brewery in Lawrenceville.

The Annual Report for the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh has Straub & Son at the Union Brewery for the year 1882.

Lawrenceville

Allegheny Valley Brewery46th St & Allegheny Valley Rail Road John P. Gangwisch moved to this location after the Penn Street brewery closed but also after he opened the brewery in Bloomfield. The document, Pittsburgh Industries has Gangwisch opening the Allegheny Valley Brewery in 1876. Ganhwisch went bankrupt in Bloomfield but opened here. He was partnered with a Mr. O’Reilly in 1882 as Gangwisch, O’Reilly & Company. (It may have been a mis-spelling but the Chamber used the O’Reily spelling) The brewery here went on to become the St. Julien Brewery

Tavern Trove has the brewery as a company but Sanborn has it as a brewery. The Allegheny Valley Brewery under John Gangwisch is described in the Industries of Pittsburgh, page 137.

The 1872 atlas, plate 58 shows the Wainwright Brewery but the 1882 atlas, plate 9 shows the White Lead factory. It is possible that the 1872 atlas was not updated.

St. Julien BewerySt. Julien paid a tax to the Commonwealth in May 1882 relative to their being chartered that year. St. Julien was shown on the 1884 Sanborn map. Sanborn noted it to be the “formerly St. Julien Brewery”.

Map ReferenceHopkins 1872 Atlas, Plate 58 clearly shows this to be the Wainwright Brewery. Subsequent Hopkins maps do not show a brewery. An 1884 Sanborn maps identify that St. Julien was located here but that it was closed and scheduled to become tenement housing.

Gangwisch CooperageThe book Industries of Pittsburgh, has information on Gangwisch as this location. It notes that the cooperage at the brewery was painted with blue, green and white.

Gangwisch & Co. BreweryOwners: R. H. Gangwisch, John Gangwisch & J. S. Straub Magnolia (Market) St & Juniata StR. H. Gangwisch was with the Manchester Brewery (18787 – 1891) along with John L Straub. This came from Tavern Trove (.com). This brewery operated until an explosion forced it to close in 1889. Richard Gangwisch went to work at the Phoenix Brewery in the Strip District.

The Annual Report for the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh has H. Deppel for the year 1882.

The Real Estate Plat Book of the City of Allegheny (Volume 1) 1890 Plate 15 has property of W. Dipple but does not show a brewery. Plate 13 has property on the katty corner with Wilhelm as owner. J. Straub had property (home) on Preble, south of Locust. J. Ober had a large lot across the street.

Both the brewery and the land were acquired from John Dipple about 1887. A story in the Pittsburgh Dispatch (August 21, 1889) told of a boiler explosion at the brewery. The brewery may have closed after this as the property had a new owner as of 1901. Richard Gangwisch went to the Phoenix Brewery after this brewery closed after the explosion.

Boiler ExplosionOn August 21, 1889, the Pittsburgh Dispatch reported of a boiler explosion at the Gangwisch & Co. Brewery in Allegheny. The owners of the brewery were: R. H. Gangwisch, John Gangwisch and J. S. Straub. They were also the owners of the building having bought it from John Dipple in1887.

Oddity: In addition to the Pittsburgh Dispatch, the Pittsburgh Post also ran the story of the explosion. What was evident in each newspaper was the glairing and unexpected observation that the story in each paper was identical

Support for Gangwisch Comparative Notes

Industries of Pittsburgh, page 137 has Gangwisch working as a foreman in the John Beck Brewery on Liberty Street in the Strip District. Industries has Gangwisch starting there at the age of 27. No dates are given but he would have been here on or after 1848. On an unknown date he and 2 partners bought a planning mill on Liberty Street and opened a brewery, which existed until the 1860’s when the Pennsylvanian Railroad bought the property. Industries says he opened the Union Brewery before he opened the Allegheny Valley Brewery, which opened in 1876.

Gangwisch Family

John P. GangwischBorn in Baden, Germany (b. 1821)Theresa Hug (wife)Children:__John (1845 – July 16, 1916) born in Baden, Germany, married Ganor__John opened the Bloomfield brewery____George William, who moved to California____Richard (b.1860): Born in Pennsylvania____Emma____Josephenia (original spelling)____Magdalene

John Gangwisch was born in August 1845 in Baden, Germany. He died July 16, 1916 in Pittsburgh, PA. He married Sarah Agnes Gaynor on or about 1870 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Note: There was a Richard P. Gangwisch of Philadelphia in the brewing business at the same time as the Gangwisch family was in brewing in Pittsburgh.

Unknown if related to John P. Gangwisch (above) Carl Gangwisch (b. 1817)Born in Baden, GermanyElise (wife) (b. 1819)Children:__Francoise (b. 1844)__William George (b. 1845)__Herman (b.1849)__Leonard (b. 1852)__Albert (b. 1853)__Henry (b. 1859)__Andrew (b. 1864)__Joseph Gangwisch (b. 1864)____Note: A Joseph Gangwish was a Pittsburgh brewer and worked as a brewmaster in 1918 for the Wainwright Brewery in Lawrenceville. He was the son of Carl & Elsie.

Gangwisch Trust Fund

John P. Gangwisch established a trust fund for his wife, Frances Helen Gangwisch. An appeal of a court case was brought to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1973.

John F. Gangwisch of Nebraska

John F. Gangwisch was born in Baden, Germany. He and came to Pittsburgh but moved to Nebraska. I do not know if there was a relation between the two.

R. H. Gangwisch of Boston, Philadelphia & Pittsburgh

Two people named R. H. Gangwisch were, along with R. H. Ganhwisch of Pittsburgh were brewers in the late 1800’s. They all were well known in brewing circles but I have no documentation that they were related to one another.